Ladekontaktene sitter på dokkingstasjonen.

Ladekontaktene is a compound noun:

• lade = to charge
• kontakter = contacts
• ladekontakter = charging contacts
• ladekontaktene = the charging contacts

So the whole word means the charging contacts.

Norwegian very often builds long nouns this way, by combining smaller words into one compound.

The ending -ene marks definite plural for many nouns in Bokmål.

Here is the pattern:

• en kontakt = a contact
• kontakter = contacts
• kontaktene = the contacts

The same idea applies inside the compound:

• ladekontakter = charging contacts
• ladekontaktene = the charging contacts

Unlike English, Norwegian usually puts the at the end of the noun as a suffix instead of as a separate word.

Dokkingstasjonen means the docking station.

It comes from:

• dokkingstasjon = docking station
• dokkingstasjonen = the docking station

The ending -en is the usual definite singular ending for many masculine nouns in Bokmål.

So:

• en dokkingstasjon = a docking station
• dokkingstasjonen = the docking station

Again, Norwegian normally adds definiteness to the noun itself instead of using a separate word like the.

Yes, sitter literally means sits, but in Norwegian it is also commonly used for how something is positioned or located, especially when something is:

• fixed in place
• attached
• resting somewhere
• physically situated in a stable position

So in this sentence, Ladekontaktene sitter på dokkingstasjonen does not mean the contacts are literally sitting like a person. It means they are located on, mounted on, or positioned on the docking station.

This is very natural Norwegian.

Yes, you probably could, and it would be understandable. But there is a difference in feel:

• er på = are on / are located on
• sitter på = are sitting on / are attached on / are positioned on

Using sitter gives a stronger sense of physical placement or attachment. It often sounds more natural when talking about parts on a device.

So:

• Ladekontaktene er på dokkingstasjonen = more neutral
• Ladekontaktene sitter på dokkingstasjonen = more specific about position/placement

Here på means on.

So:

• på dokkingstasjonen = on the docking station

This is the normal preposition when something is physically on a surface or attached to the outside of something.

Prepositions do not always match English perfectly, but in this case på corresponds nicely to on.

It describes a state, not an ongoing action.

Even though sitter comes from å sitte and can mean to sit, here it describes where the charging contacts are and how they are positioned.

So the sentence is about location/placement, not about the contacts actively doing something.

Because Norwegian usually expresses definiteness by adding an ending to the noun.

Compare:

• English: the docking station
• Norwegian: dokkingstasjonen

And:

• English: the charging contacts
• Norwegian: ladekontaktene

This is one of the most important differences between English and Norwegian noun grammar.

Yes. The neutral word order is:

• Ladekontaktene sitter på dokkingstasjonen.

But Norwegian can move the location phrase to the front for emphasis:

• På dokkingstasjonen sitter ladekontaktene.

That still means the same thing, but now the sentence emphasizes where they are.

Notice that when på dokkingstasjonen comes first, the verb sitter still stays in the second position. That is a basic Norwegian word-order rule.

A rough guide for an English speaker:

• ladekontaktene ≈ LAH-deh-kon-TAK-teh-neh
• sitter ≈ SIH-ter
• på ≈ paw (with a rounded vowel)
• dokkingstasjonen ≈ DOK-ing-sta-SHU-nen

A few useful notes:

• å / på has a vowel somewhat like aw in many English accents.
• kj is not present here, so this sentence is fairly straightforward.
• The r in standard East Norwegian is usually lighter than many English r sounds.
• The stress is not always where an English speaker might expect, especially in compounds.

It is basically a modern technical word built from a borrowed concept. That is very common in Norwegian, especially in technology.

• dokking comes from the same idea as English docking
• stasjon means station

So dokkingstasjon is a perfectly natural modern Norwegian technical term, even though it is clearly related to English vocabulary.